


Foundling

by Wallwalker



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, F/M, FF Kiss Battle, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-23
Updated: 2011-07-23
Packaged: 2017-10-21 16:36:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/227306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wallwalker/pseuds/Wallwalker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Terra tries not to think too hard about why Locke is there. She tries to focus on the simple fact that he needs her now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Foundling

**Author's Note:**

> Locke/Terra fic; mildest speculations of Celes/Locke, but nothing definite. Marked AU because it's set post-game, in a game where Locke wasn't found before Kefka's defeat. I still hope to continue this someday, but it's marked complete for now because it stands alone and I have no particular plans to do so.

His skin was so dark, burnt by the wind and the sun, and his sleep was always troubled.

Terra couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she shouldn't have been the one standing by Locke's side, stroking his hair and trying to soothe him as he thrashed in the night. She knew that Celes had tried to find him; it seemed that her eyes had always scanned the horizon for him, even when someone else had stood next to her. Terra had seen her fall, and she'd seen Setzer grab her and pull her back up; when she'd thought about it later, remembering the odd exchange, all she could think was that she had felt sorry for Setzer, for some reason. The look in his eyes, maybe.

She could still hardly believe that Locke was even there, that any of this had happened. She and her friends sad searched the world to find him again, even after Kefka had fallen, and for all of their efforts they had never found a trace. Most of the others had finally stopped looking, not out of a lack of love or concern but out of emotional self-preservation, a need to let go of the dead. Maybe Celes had done the same -

 _Or maybe she still hasn't,_ something whispers in her mind - her conscience, maybe. She does her best to silence it. Celes isn't there, and Terra has no idea where she is or how to contact her; the two women had fallen out of touch since their journey had finally ended, when Terra had settled in Mobliz for good and Celes had flown off with Setzer to parts unknown. Terra is beside Locke, now; she's all that he has.

She hadn't expected to see him again; she definitely hadn't expected to see him collapsed at her door, battered by the elements. Again, if there had been anyone she would've expected him to go through hell to get to... but no, even she didn't know where Celes was wandering now, and Terra had settled in Mobliz. Maybe he'd heard her name somewhere on the road. Maybe he hadn't known where else to go.

Or maybe - just maybe - he _had_ somehow known where they both could be found, and Terra was the one that he'd wanted to see again. She could hardly bear to hope that it was true, but... well. Part of her certainly wanted to, didn't it? Part of her liked to imagine him traveling, desperate to make it to Mobliz, to see her face again. It felt kind of nice, for all that it must have been a terrible ordeal for him.

He gasped in his sleep again, and she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. He was so weak... sometimes he would wake up and stare at her briefly before closing his eyes again, as if he didn't know who she was but was too weak to ask. Maybe he had amnesia. The irony of it would be terrible...

No. She shook her head and sat down next to him. Someday he'd wake up for real, and she was sure that he would know her. Then... then maybe she could sort out all of those thoughts in her head.

All that she needed to think about now was that he needed her help. The rest could wait until he was better.


End file.
